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A little help?

By laelaps on February 6, 2008.

Update: Michael has been kind enough to track down a copy of A Discourse on the revolutions of the surface of the globe..., although it looks like I'm going to have to learn French if I want to read Researches on fossil bones.

I've been reading a lot about Cuvier as of late, but I realized that I haven't actually read much of Cuvier's own work (not being able to read French is a general impediment). I was wondering, then, if any of you know of available English translations of Discours sur les revolutions du globe (
A discourse on the revolutions of the surface of the globe, and the changes thereby produced in the animal kingdom) and Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles (
Researches on fossil bones, in which are established the characters of various animals whose species have been destroyed by the revolutions of the globe).

I know English translations were published in the late 19th century, but those are rare and are likely to be too expensive for me to obtain if ever I should find one. Perhaps I missed a more recent translation, though, or maybe the books have shown up somewhere online (as many old science books sometimes do), so if anyone knows of where I could find these books (online or otherwise) please let me know.

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A fair amount of the older scientific literature is being digitised. For Cuvier see

Internet Archive
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Cuvier%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts

Google Books
http://www.google.com/books?q=inauthor:Cuvier&num=100&as_brr=1

Elsewhere Gallica (http://gallica.bnf.fr) is often useful, but in this case all the works by Cuvier are in French. Botanicus (http://www.botanicus.org) has a lot of stuff, but it's nearly all botanical.

By alias Ernest Major (not verified) on 06 Feb 2008 #permalink

Is this not close?

Personal author: Rudwick, M. J. S.
Title: Georges Cuvier, fossil bones, and geological catastrophes : new translations & interpretations of the primary texts / Martin J.S. Rudwick.
Publication info: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1997.
Physical descrip: xvi, 301 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Subject: Mammals, Fossil.
Subject: Catastrophes (Geology)
Subject: Geology--History--18th century.
Added author: Cuvier, Georges, baron, 1769-1832. Essays. English. Selections.

Paul Robeson Library (Camden) Copy Sub-location Status
call number: QE881.R83 1997 1 STACKS IN-LIBRARY

Thanks Bora and Ryan; Michael directed me to the google books version of A Discourse on the Revolutions... and I actually just received a copy of Rudwick's book in the mail yesterday. It looks like I'm going to have to learn French to read Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles, but I'll work on Discourse... first while I try to find an English translation.